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What I've tried
DSL - It was good but... It wasn't good enough. I guess it was because at the time I had no internet
Slackware - Did not install, and it's covered in "Bob" and I won't have anything to do with SubGenius.

The Question
So can anyone suggest a low resource distro? I would prefer something with C interpreters so I can build software, or .deb support

I think I'm more likely to try DSL-n next, but I would like some advice from the experts. When I used Xubuntu my graphics card simply wouldn't play with it.

Re: The common question - Low Resource Distro?

Xubuntu - Use the "alternate desktop installer" as it will install on 128 MB Ram. Later when you upgrade to 256 MB you will notice how quick it is on so little hardware. I use it on two on my older 300 Mhz and 500 Mhz machines and it works good.

Probably the best installable Linux out there that includes pretty much everything that you could want that runs great on older machines.

The alternate install CD allows you to perform certain specialist installations of Xubuntu. It provides for the following situations:

* creating pre-configured OEM systems;
* setting up automated deployments;
* upgrading from older installations without network access;
* LVM and/or RAID partitioning;
* installs on systems with less than about 128MB of RAM (although note that low-memory systems may not be able to run a full desktop environment reasonably).

Re: The common question - Low Resource Distro?

Slax, based on slackware works great. It is one of the few distros that handles ACPI on older bios out of the box. It is installable. I did have a problem with the install because I did not use the suggested LILO. I installed it in a multiboot. I installed ubuntu afterwards expecting grub to pick it up. Grub did pick it up, but it does not log directly to GUI. It booted to CLI first.

I think slax 5 is better for older hardware vs. slax 6.

Others to consider, especially with 256meg,

Xubuntu
Fluxbuntu

Ubuntu 7.10 works great on my pent2 400mhz with 386meg ram. I could not believe it. I still have to sort out ACPI to properly shutdown without hitting power button.

Nothing is ever easy, but if it is difficult you must be doing it wrong.

Re: The common question - Low Resource Distro?

try tinyme. a pclinuxos deriviative using the openbox window manger. goes nicely for my PII on 192 mb ram.
still in test 7 though, with an new version on it's way. (haven't run into any problems though)